Real life is pretty grim right now, so I'm having a little trouble with this very dark book. I've read enough to feel that I'll really enjoy it at the right time, but now is not that time. So I'm reshelving it under "try again later" and picking something lighter for my Booklikes-opoly square. 

 

Finished Ch 1. It's a promising start, but pretty grim. It's horror, of course, but I'm accustomed to a little dark humor with the horror, and I can't detect any yet. 

 

Bob Dylan FAQ: All That's Left to Know A... For the most part, this new book covering the career of Bob Dylan offers little new. But for the obsessed and interested fan it is still fun to revisit the greatest song and dance man to ever hit the stage. Unfortunately, there is a large segment of the book devoted to Dylan’s transgressions, which reportedly were many. Readers are bombarded and reminded almost constantly how prolific Dylan was at being unfaithful to his love partners. Unsure of how this behavior translates into the history of his art, but it does seem to be important to many Dylan biographers. As I neared the end of what I hope will be my last Dylan bio, there was a bit feeling of satisfaction knowing more than I should about the man. And still he remains an enigma.

There is nobility in the struggle, you don't have to win.

 

Sharon Pollock

 

Today we celebrate the birthday of Sharon Pollock. The leading Canadian playwright is best known for Blood Relations, based on the story of Lizzie Borden.

When their father dies, the Jewett brothers are left without guidance until they decide to emulate their hero, a dime-novel hero called Bloody Bill Bucket. Their bloody trail crosses the paths of a farmer named Ellsworth Fiddler and a hobo named Sugar. Will the brothers make it to Canada alive to live out their days in peace?

I got this from Netgalley.

The Heavenly Table is the tale of the three Jewett brothers and the people they encounter after striking out on their own after their father Pearl dies. Dirt poor and ignorant of the ways of the world, Cane, Cob, and Chimney take up robbing banks in the manner of their dime-novel hero, Bloody Bill Bucket.

The tale Donald Ray Pollock crafts here is full of violence and dark humor. There's drinking, killing, whoring, and even a trained chimpanzee. The five plot threads repeatedly intersect until almost everyone is dead. Pollard the bartender, Sugar the bum, Jasper the sanitation inspector, Ellsworth Fiddler, the farmer with terrible luck, and Bovard, the secretly gay army officer, all flitter around the edges of the Jewetts' tale, periodically intersecting with them. Jasper, the outhouse inspector with a wang like the size of a baguette, was my favorite of the supporting players.

The Jewett brothers were an interesting mix. Cane, the oldest and smartest, was the leader. Cob, the simpleton, stayed with the others out of loyalty, and Chimney, the hothead, was lucky he survived childhood. Much like [b:Knockemstiff|1704719|Knockemstiff|Donald Ray Pollock|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424959738s/1704719.jpg|1701841], the setting was a vivid part of the story. The town of Meade felt so real I could almost smell it at times.

When things finally came together at the end, it was one bloody encounter after the next. I was glad the people who lived through it lived through it. The dark humor was unquestionably my favorite part of the story. I repeatedly interrupted my lady friend's Harry Potter reading with talk of going to the Whore Barn and other questionable things.

With the Heavenly Table, Donald Ray Pollock serves up another heaping helping of country noir. Four out of five stars.